102 smartphones recovered at Dhaka airport from bg-148 passengers

Customs officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport seized a total of 102 mobile phones from four women passengers arriving on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-148 from Dubai via Chattogram on Tuesday at around 11:20am. Acting on intelligence, airport customs and members of the Bangladesh Air Force deployed under Avsec placed all passengers from the flight under special surveillance.

While crossing the green channel, the four passengers — Samia Sultana, Shamima Akter, Zainab Begum and Nusrat — were searched, and officials recovered 35 iPhone 17 Pro Max sets, 55 iPhone 15 sets and 12 Google Pixel phones concealed on their bodies.

As the passengers failed to provide any valid information regarding the phones, customs detained 98 of the seized devices. The estimated market value of the confiscated phones is Tk1,76,40,000 (one crore seventy-six lakh forty thousand).

Officials said that smugglers frequently attempt to bring gold, mobile phones and cigarettes through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, particularly on flights arriving from Dubai and Sharjah. Recently, smugglers have changed tactics to evade customs surveillance. On flights arriving via Chattogram, associates of the smugglers reportedly board the aircraft in Chattogram and receive gold and mobile phones mid-flight before arriving in Dhaka.